The voice actors for the English dub of Jujutsu Kaisen 0 discuss how little they were paid when the film became one of the highest-grossing anime films in history.
Jujutsu Kaisen 0The runaway success of has sparked a new conversation about how little the anime industry pays its English voice actors.
The animated prequel debuted in North America in March. Box Office Mojo estimates that the film has now grossed $30 million at the US box office. The film’s international release follows a box office success in Japanese theaters, where it opened last December and quickly managed to become the region’s highest-grossing film for 2021 and one of the top 10 highest-grossing anime films of all time. . The film is currently estimated to have earned $162.9 million worldwide, almost double the $85 million that distributor Toho Co. Ltd. originally projected the film to earn over its lifetime. Time Jujutsu Kaisen 0 is making substantial profits for its producers, the film’s English voice cast began talking about how little they were paid for their contributions to the film.
I also want to make it clear that I don’t blame the recording studio for this as they have budgets that they have to meet. These changes must come from above. It is difficult to know if the people above listen to our requests or frustrations.
-Tara Jayne Sands (araTaraSandsLA) April 4, 2022
Tara Jayne Sands, who voices the characters of Momo Nishimiya and Utahime Iori in the series, stated that she was paid only $150 USD for her role in the film. The voice actor’s remarks were posted in response to a tweet from fellow voice actor Sean Chiplock (Legend of Heroes: Paths of Cold Steel), who stated that the film’s actors would receive no royalties or post-release payments stemming from the film’s success. Sands stated that he tried unsuccessfully to negotiate a higher salary since Jujutsu Kaisen 0 it would be a theatrical release. The actress further clarified that she does not blame the recording studios, as the companies behind the anime give them a strict budget. Sands believes there needs to be changes at the top of these companies before the pay situation improves.
Sands’ remarks echo similar sentiments from voice actor Kaiji Tang, who stars in the film as the voice of Satoru Gojo. Tang stated that he wouldn’t be able to make a living as an anime voice actor if he didn’t also do audiobooks and educational work. The actor also revealed that English voice actors are given very little preparation time for their roles and often have to do “cold reading” of the script while recording lines to be used in the final product.
Several other notable voice actors, including Stephanie Sheh (FLCL, Sailor Moon) and Kyle McCarley (Mob Psycho 100), have pushed for the anime industry to adopt collective dubbing. While some distributors, such as GKIDS and Netflix, use some unionized voice work, the majority of the English voice acting industry is non-unionized.
Source: Box Office Mojo, Twitter (1, two)
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